Alternate Destiny
by HeKillsWithHisSmile
Summary: Doctor Who and Take That crossover. The Doctor lands in a Parallel Universe where five unlikely men's destinies aren't to become one of the biggest boybands ever, but it is in fact to save the universes from the explosion coming. Bad summary better one inside. Please R&R Love yas!
1. Chapter 1

_**Crossover Doctor Who/Take That. The Doctor lands in a parallel universe where he comes across five unlikely people whose destiny isn't to become one of the biggest bands ever. They're destiny is to save the universes from the explosion that is on its way. Well that's the plan so far... it may turn out very different.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I don't own Doctor Who, I don't own Take That. This is purely fiction. Hope you enjoy though.**_

* * *

_Alternate Destiny_

The Doctor set the TARDIS controls for his next destination. He had been on his own for a while now and was starting to get used to it. Of course he wanted to have someone with him to share the journey, but he knew that he would just lose them eventually if he did.

Once the controls were set he sat down on the control room chair with a book. He took out his thick black-rimmed glasses and put them on as he read.

He was just getting to a good bit in his book when the TARDIS jolted suddenly and the Doctor dropped his book on the floor and ran over to the screen.

"Damn it!" The Doctor ran around console trying his hardest to do anything that would stop the TARDIS. Nothing worked. "Not again." The Doctor ran his hands through his spiky hair. He was headed towards a parallel universe. It was like they magnetised him. He hated them.

The TARDIS suddenly landed with a thud and the Doctor was sent to the floor. He landed funny and yelped. He stayed on the floor until he felt it safe to get up and see what state the TARDIS was in this time.

When he felt that it was safe enough, he slowly sat up and used the TARDIS to help him to his feet.

"Bloody hell." The Doctor swore under his breath. The TARDIS was a state. There was no way he was going to be able to get home for a few days. He had a quick look around and found that everything was in a fairly good condition. He sighed when he realised that he was going to have to find somewhere to stay while the TARDIS repaired herself. How had he gotten here anywhere?

The Doctor thought about it. There must be something wrong otherwise he wouldn't be here. He had to sort that out before he went back that was for sure. While he contemplated what could have happened there was a sudden rumble outside and the Doctor felt the floor beneath him move. Once it had stopped the Doctor ran out of the door grabbing his coat as he went.

As he shut the TARDIS door behind him, he noticed that he was in Manchester not London for once. He looked around. There didn't seem to be anything wrong, but then again, there was always something wrong whenever the Doctor landed here. Now unless someone had managed to find out how to make travelling between different universes possible, then there was something extremely wrong.

Suddenly there was another rumble – a bit like an earthquake. But there was something that told the Doctor that this was no earthquake. It carried on for a long time. As it did, the Doctor looked around trying to see if everyone was all right. The last thing he really wanted to deal with was injury, but he knew that he would try and help anyone he could.

His eyes suddenly caught site of a young man standing next to a building which looked like it was about to collapse on top of him. The Doctor ran over to him shouting for him to watch out, but the young man couldn't hear him. All of a sudden, completely out of the blue for the young man a brick fell from the building and hit him on the shoulder. The young man cried out in pain and fell to the floor. The Doctor ran faster in order to save the man from the rest of the falling building. He reached the man just as a smaller brick fell on his head.

The Doctor grabbed the man and carried him to safety away from the building as it collapsed into a heap of brick, metal and other things. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no-one else. He then looked down at the young man who was unconscious and bleeding badly. The Doctor moved the man's brown hair out of the way so he could see the wound that had been caused by the brick. He grimaced when he saw it.

The Doctor dived into his pocket and pulled out some fabric and some wipes to clean and dress the wound. He probably wouldn't need stitches thankfully, but he would be feeling a bit dizzy for a while when he woke up.

After he had dressed the wound, the Doctor had a look at the man's shoulder. It wasn't broken, just badly bruised. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when he was finished checking the man over. He was going to be fine.

The young man groaned slightly and opened his eyes. He looked straight at the Doctor with confusion.

"Wh...What 'appened?" The man had a thick Mancunian accent, which didn't really surprise the Doctor, but for some reason he was expecting a London accent to come from him. Too much time in London that told the Doctor.

"You had a nasty hit to the head and to the shoulder. Don't worry, you should be fine now." The Doctor told him. "What's your name?"

"Mark, my name's Mark." Mark answered.

"Hello Mark, I'm the Doctor. Do you remember anything else?"

"I don't have amnesia. I can remember everything except what happened." Mark said as he got up. Once stood up Mark felt a bit dizzy and fell back onto the Doctor.

"Whoa, there mate, careful. You might want to take it easy for now." The Doctor said as he helped the much smaller man to his feet. "By the way can I ask, are you in a band?" The Doctor asked feeling he recognised Mark from somewhere.

"No, I'm not in a band I work at the bank. I have done since I was about 18." Mark replied feeling slightly confused to why this man was asking him that. "Why?"

"It's just I recognise you from somewhere. Is your last name Owen by any chance?"

"Yeah," Mark said slowly. "How did you know that? Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm a long way from home."

"Don't sound it to me."

"Trust me; you don't know the half of it."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"What kinda name is that?"

"My name."

"You're one of the strangest men I've ever met. Stranger than my friend Robbie and that's saying something."

"That'll be Robbie Williams. What does he do?"

"He works at the local drama club. How the hell do you know who he is? Just tell me who the hell you are." Mark said looking at the Doctor seriously.

The Doctor looked down at Mark, the height difference given him an advantage in looking severe. "I can't tell you who I am. You won't believe it. Now I best be off. Be careful for a while, get rest, and make sure your head gets better before you do anything." The Doctor walked away leaving Mark watching him go in confusion. There was something with that Doctor man that made Mark feel slightly frightened. Mark then turned around and walked away to, hoping to find Robbie somewhere. He had to tell him what had happened. Even at 29 Mark liked to tell Robbie all of his stories, just like you do when you're a kid.

~TT-DW~

Somewhere far away in the centre of the universes a creature was laughing to itself. The earthquakes were only part of his plan. While he had everyone occupied with one thing, he could commence the explosion to end everything except him and his race and no-one would take much notice and they certainly wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him...

**TBC...**


	2. Chapter 2

"Mark?" Robbie shouted. "Mark where are you? Please tell me you're all right." Robbie was worried for his friend now, he hadn't seen him for a while and he was worried that he had been hurt in the quake. He had seen a building collapse and he was scared that Mark had been trapped under the rubble. He didn't know what he would do if Mark got hurt.

"Rob," Robbie turned to the sound of Mark's voice. "Rob, I'm OK. I'm fine. Are you OK?" Mark asked as he ran up to his friend. Robbie scooped the smaller man into a tight hug and Mark hugged him back.

"Bloody hell Mark, you scared me there. I thought you had gotten hurt." Robbie let go of his friend and noticed his bandaged head. "Oh my God, Mark what happened?"

"Rob, I'm fine. I just got hit on the head. Some man helped me and I feel fine now." Mark said.

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." Mark reassured his friend. Robbie wasn't normally like this. "Robbie I need to tell you something. The man who helped me was a bit weird. I can't shake the feeling that he's not supposed to be here."

"How do you mean?"

"He has some weird presence. It's like he doesn't belong here. I don't know what it is."

"What did he like?" Robbie asked.

"He was tall, taller than you. Taller than Jason I think. And he had spiky brown hair, brown eyes and he was wearing a brown suit with a long brown coat. He was also wearing converses which were a bit odd." Mark explained.

"Maybe he's a bit, y'know." Robbie did the crazy sign with his hand which made Mark laugh.

"Probably."

"Tell you what. Let's find the other three."

"Hey, you two. You need to come with us. Everyone's being taken to safety we can't risk anymore injuries. And also you look like you need treatment." A police officer came up to the two of them and looked at Mark. Robbie and Mark nodded and followed the officer to where he was leading them.

~TT-DW~

The Doctor walked to find somewhere to stay until a police officer came up to him and told him to go to the shelter. The Doctor didn't have any other choice but to follow. He couldn't go home and he knew he wasn't going to be able to get away. So the Doctor did what he was told for once in his life.

When he reached the shelter, it was bigger than he thought and there were a lot of them. He was shown to his bed. There were six in total. There were three young men who were talking to each other and looking rather worried.

As the Doctor entered the three young men turned to look at him. They looked disappointed when they saw him; they were obviously expecting someone else.

"Hello," the Doctor said brightly.

"Hi," one of the men said.

"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor said.

"Gary," the first man said.

"Howard," one of the other men said.

"Jason," the final man said.

"You haven't seen two other young men have you? One who's quite tall with lots of tattoos and the other who's small and cute looking with a bright smile." Gary asked.

"I think I might have seen the small one. Is his name Mark?"

"Yes, that's him."

"I saw Mark yes, but the other one I haven't a clue."

"Is Mark OK?"

"He's fine, he had a nasty bump to the head but he's fine." The Doctor said.

"God, I hope Rob's OK as well." Howard said.

As if on cue a man came into the shelter and the three northern lads jumped up and gave their friend a hug.

"Rob! We were so worried, where's Marky?" Jason asked.

"He's being seen to by a doctor." Robbie replied. "Who's this?"

"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor shook Robbie's hand and then headed back to his bed.

"Hold on, I know who you are. You're that man Marky was talking about earlier."

"Am I? That's nice."

"He told me that he felt like you didn't belong here." The Doctor had just lain down but as soon as Robbie said that he sat back up again.

"He said what?"

"He said that you had some weird presence."

"Well, he had just been hit on the head. Give the lad some leeway." The Doctor said.

"Mark normally knows what he's talking about." Gary said looking at the Doctor.

"Well, like I said he was hit on the head. So he could have thought anything at that moment." The Doctor said, though he had a sneaking suspicion that Mark was on to him.

The Doctor watched the four of them talk from where he lay on his bed. He needed to get out there and find out what was going on. He couldn't just lay here and do nothing. Bloody earthquake.

The Doctor swore he was going to fall asleep when all of a sudden the door opened and Mark came through the door. As soon as he saw the Doctor he stopped in his tracks.

"It's you." He said. The Doctor turned to look at the small man in the doorway.

"I guess it is. Hi again. How's your head and shoulder?" The Doctor asked waving and smiling at him. Mark didn't return anything except a look.

"Fine," he answered before heading over to his friends. The Doctor looked at Mark or while. There was something about him that wasn't quite right. The Doctor knew this was a different universe and all, but he had sworn that on his universe Mark was a lot more... smiley... than this.

Soon the Doctor got bored, so got out his sonic screwdriver and started to play with it. He pressed the button and the light came on. As soon as the light came on, Mark yelled. The Doctor sat up and let go of the button as soon as it was off Mark stopped yelling and breathed in and out heavily.

"What the hell is that thing?" He asked.

"Sonic screwdriver. Did you have a reaction?" The Doctor asked.

"I dunno, probably. I dunno what it is." The Doctor pressed the button again and Mark yelled. He took his thumb off the button and Mark stopped.

"Stop it Doctor, you're hurting him." Robbie said. The Doctor looked from the sonic to Mark and back again. Something was going on here, something very strange.

"I don't understand why you had a reaction to this Mark. No human has ever reacted to it." The Doctor said.

"No human? What are you on about?" Jason asked.

"Don't worry; I'll get to the bottom of it." The Doctor was still talking to Mark and ignored Jason.

"Who are you?" Howard asked. He was just so confused by the whole thing. He had no idea how to react to what was going on around him.

"I'm the one who's gonna stop whatever's going on here and save the lives of billions of people." The Doctor said.

"How can one man do that?" Gary asked.

"Just you watch."

"What's going on around here?" Robbie asked. He wanted to know what was happening; he needed to know what this man was saving them from. "What are you saving us from?"

"I don't know."

"That's helpful." Mark said light-heartedly.

"I know, but I will find out. I will find out how I came to be here; why Mark's reacting to the sonic and who is behind this. Just you wait."

**TBC...**


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor thought things through in his head. As he did he watched the five young lads talk to each other. There was something weird going on here and he was sat back doing nothing.

The Doctor let out a long groan and Howard turned to look at him.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"I'm sick of hanging back. I need to get out there, but no-one's going to let me out." The Doctor said putting his hands over his eyes.

"Why not wait until tonight?" Howard suggested.

"Could do, I suppose." The Doctor agreed.

"Well until then, why don't you join us?" Gary said. The Doctor groaned before getting up and sitting on the floor with the other five between Howard and Jason.

The six of them talked for a while, just trying to get to know each other. Of course the five of them knew each other, but it was fun for the Doctor to get to know them. They were a nice bunch of lads and now that they were in a more relaxed way, he could see all of their personalities coming through.

~TT-DW~

As the day came to a close and the night drew in the Doctor got himself ready for his little trip. He made sure he had everything before looking to see if it was clear.

"Right, I'm off. I'll see you guys soon." The Doctor said as he pulled back the door further. He was just about to set foot outside when Mark spoke.

"I'm coming with you." The Doctor turned towards Mark and looked at the small man with surprise. The other four gave him the same look.

"You're doing what?" The Doctor asked thinking he might have heard Mark wrong.

"I'm coming with you. If there's something wrong with me as well, then I want to find out with you."

"Mark, are you mental?" Gary asked.

"Maybe, but I'm not sitting back and doing nothing."

"Mark, you could get hurt." Robbie said. The Doctor noticed that Robbie was the most worried for his friend.

"That's a risk I have to take." Mark said. There was obviously no way of stopping him.

"Are you sure?" The Doctor asked. He wasn't going to try stopping Mark because he knew that wasn't going to happen. He just wanted to make sure Mark had thought this through first. He didn't know how dangerous this was going to be and the Doctor would hate to see anyone get hurt in a fight that wasn't there's. Not that this was his fight either, to be honest, but he was the only one who could stop what was happening.

"I'm sure; I've been thinking this through since you said you needed to do this." Mark told them.

"All right then, if you're sure." The Doctor said. "Come on then." Mark made his way up to the Doctor, but before the two of them had a chance to get out, Howard got back their attention.

"We're coming too." He said. Both Mark and the Doctor turned to look at the remaining four.

"We're not going to do nothing either. If Mark's going then we're coming too." Jason said. The Doctor looked at the four of them.

"You do realise how dangerous this could be, don't you?" The Doctor said.

"No, but that won't stop us." Robbie said with more confidence than he felt.

"We're coming and that's that." Gary said stubbornly.

"OK then, we'll all go. I suppose it'll be better with the six of us." The Doctor said. "But you have to do what I say. No going off on your own and trying to do your own thing." The Doctor mainly looked at Robbie when he said that. Well Robbie and Mark, but mainly Robbie. He knew what Robbie could be like in his universe so there was a chance he was exactly the same here. And as for Mark, well he normally went wherever Robbie went, it was like Ant and Dec and Sam and Mark, you couldn't have one without the other.

"We won't." Mark promised also looking at Robbie. The Doctor smiled a bright smile.

"Right then, off we go." The six of them made their way out of the door and into the night. The Doctor had a torch and was using it to see if there were any signs of movement. They all walked slowly and quietly as they made their way away from the shelters and into the main part of the city.

When they were finally out of the way, Gary spoke up.

"What are we looking for exactly?" He asked.

"Not sure, anything out of the ordinary." The Doctor said.

"Like the earthquakes." Howard said.

"Yes like them. They were not normal; I don't remember the United Kingdom being a place for large earthquakes like that. I know you guys get tiny ones, but not like earlier that was strange." The Doctor said.

"And scary, don't forget scary." Mark said.

"And scary yes." The Doctor carried on searching along the ground. Mark had decided to just sit down and look at the sky. They hadn't noticed him yet, they were too busy looking elsewhere.

Suddenly, Mark saw something in the sky that he had never seen before. It was an odd shape and awfully bright. He slowly stood up and looked at it. All of a sudden it changed colour from white to green, during the colour change some of the brightness had gone, but it was still brighter than everything else. Mark tried to look away so he could see if the others were seeing what he was seeing, but he found that he couldn't move from where he was. Nothing was responding to what his brain was telling him.

He continued to stare at the green object in the sky. As Mark looked at it he could see it gradually getting bigger. It was as if it was falling, falling towards them. Mark called out to the others, but he couldn't hear his own voice. He tried again, but still nothing.

As the object grew bigger and bigger, Mark couldn't help but be mesmerised by the site. He stretched out his right arm as if to grab it and as he did so, he was bathed in a green light.

Robbie turned to look for Mark and when he saw him bathed in a green light. He found himself feeling very scared. "Doctor,"

"What?"

"It's Mark."

"What about Mar...?" The Doctor turned to look where Robbie was looking. "Oh no." The others turned to look as well. Jason gasped in shocked and fear for his friend while Gary and Howard stood in total silence barely believing what they saw.

The Doctor walked over to Mark and waved a hand in front of his face. He was completely out of it.

"Mark, you need to snap out of it. Stop looking at the sky and look at me." The Doctor said, but he hadn't managed to stop him from looking at the sky. The Doctor looked up to where Mark was looking and saw the fast-growing object in the sky. The rest of them looked up too.

"Guys don't look at it. Whatever it is its got Mark and I don't want it to get the rest of you." The Doctor said. The four lads stopped looking at the object and looked at their friend.

"Can you do something?" Gary asked.

"I don't know. I'll try." The Doctor said getting out his sonic.

"You can't use that, it hurt Mark last time." Howard said.

"Do you have a better idea?" The Doctor said quickly back shocking Howard. The Doctor changed the setting and shone the sonic up at the object which by now had covered a great proportion of the sky that had been visible to them at the beginning. He pressed the button and was expecting Mark to shout out but instead the light surrounding him got brighter and soon enough Mark was no long visible.

"Doctor, it's not working." Jason shouted. The Doctor looked down to where Mark was standing. He could no longer see the young man, only a wall of green light.

"Oh no." The Doctor whispered under his breath.

"What?" Robbie asked, having heard the Doctor.

"Whatever has got Mark isn't going to let him go."

"Then what are we going to do?" Howard asked frightened for the safety o his friend.

"We're going to have to see where they take him."

"Take him?" Gary shouted.

"Watch." The five of them watched as the light began to fade, taking Mark with it. The four young lads watched as their friend was taken by something unexplainable. Eventually nothing was left other than an empty space where Mark had once stood.

Robbie ran to the spot where Mark had been before. He knelt down and picked up something off the ground.

"Robbie, put it back, you don't know what it is." The Doctor said. Robbie ignored him.

"I know what it is. It's Mark's necklace. He never took it off. For as long as I remember he always had it on." Robbie said. The Doctor went to him and shone the torch on it. It was a simple black-stringed necklace with a cross hanging from it. In the middle was a black stone. The Doctor looked at it carefully.

"How long did you say Mark's had it?" The Doctor asked.

"He's always had it; I've never seen him with it off." Robbie answered.

"How long have you known him?"

"Since we were kids."

"Right," the Doctor said slowly.

"What's so important about Mark's necklace?" Jason asked.

"The stone, I've never seen one like it before." The Doctor said.

"How do you mean?" Howard asked.

"I mean, I've never seen one like it before. Not on Earth, not anywhere." The Doctor said not caring that he was sounding completely mental to the others.

"Not on Earth." Gary repeated. "Are you saying that that stone is from a different planet?"

"Oh finally someone gets it." The Doctor said.

"If that's not from Earth, then where?" Robbie asked.

"I don't know, but I'll find out cos there must be a reason why Mark has one." The Doctor said. "Maybe... Oh, yes! That's it!" The Doctor said moving away from Robbie to his own space.

"What?" Jason asked.

"The stone, it's for protection. That's why Mark's always had it. That's why you never saw him take it off. It's a stone to protect him." The Doctor said moving around like a madman.

"Protection? From what?"

"That I haven't figured out yet." The Doctor said honestly.

"But if it's for protection, Mark hasn't got it on, which means he's vulnerable." Howard told them.

"I know, we're going to find him. But we have to be quick, we might not have long." The Doctor said running off somewhere. The others looked at each other before running after him.

~TT-DW~

Mark awoke on a cold hard floor. He rolled over on to his back and opened his eyes. He squinted as a harsh light hit his eyes. When his eyes adjusted he sat up slowly and looked around. He was in a white room where there was nothing except a large window and a door.

Slowly, Mark stood up and made his way to the window. He walked slowly over. He could feel vibrations from under the floor. It was like he was on some kind of ship. As he made his way over to the window all he could see was the night. He can't have been asleep that long if it was still dark. A few hours at the most.

Mark looked out of the window and as soon as he saw where he was he fell to the floor in shock. His legs had gone numb and his breathing had quickened with his heart. There was no way he could be here. He was in space. Bloody space.

He slowly stood back up and looked out of the window again. He looked, trying to see if he could see the Earth, but it was no luck. He could only see different galaxies. Where was he? He had seen space in pictures and on the TV, but he had only ever seen his solar system, with the Earth and the sun and the moon. Not this, nothing like this. Ever. He was scared, terrified even. He had no idea where he was; how far away from home he was or even what he was doing here.

Eventually Mark's emotions got the better of him and he collapsed to the floor in a heap and cried. He wanted to go home. Back to his friends, back home where he belonged. Why was he here? What had happened? The last thing he remembered was going out with the Doctor and the lads trying to find anything unusual that could explain what was going on.

He felt sick. Sick with fear. He wanted this to be all a dream. A nightmare. Soon he would wake up in his own bed, back home in Manchester and none of this had happened. Not the earthquakes, not the bang on the head, not the Doctor, none of it.

Suddenly the door opened the door and a figure dressed in black came through the door. Mark was horrified. The creature wasn't human. It had pale blue skin and loads of wrinkles. Its mouth was a slit of pure black and his hands were sharp claw-like things. For Mark, though, the creature's eyes were the worst. Its eyes were a blood red with bright yellow iris' looking straight at him. It was something out of a horror movie, one where even the bravest of people get scared.

"You've arrived." The creature's voice was low and had a dark tone to it. "We've been expecting you."

"Me? What for?" Mark's voice shook as he spoke.

"You are the key."

"Key for what?" Mark stood up and leaned against the window for support. The creature walked up to him. It was a lot taller than Mark, though that wasn't hard, and it was a lot broader.

"The key for my race to become the only ones in the universes."

"Universes?"

"Oh, I forgot you're a silly human. You don't know anything about the other universes do you? There are many out there, human. More than your small mind could even believe."

"OK, so why am I the key?" Mark asked sounding braver than he felt.

"You are the key because that is what we chose. We chose a single person out of many born that day at random and you were the one." The creature told him. Mark swallowed. "Now, I bid you goodbye, until it's time." The creature walked out of the room leaving Mark on his own, even more scared than he had been before.

Mark curled up on the floor and felt more alone than he had done in his life. He just wanted this to be over. He didn't want to be the 'Key' he just wanted to be Mark. For him being little Mark Owen from Oldham was better than being the 'Key' for some alien race that wanted to get rid of the rest.

**TBC...**

_**Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far. Keep them coming! So glad people are liking this. I hope you carry on doing so. **_

_**~Markie xx**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Doctor, where are you going?" Gary asked as he and the rest of the lads tried to catch the tall skinny man up.

"You'll see." The Doctor said.

The four of them followed the Doctor and they soon came up to a blue police box that they had never seen before.

"What's this?" Robbie asked.

"My box." The Doctor told them.

"Your box?" Jason asked slowly.

"Yes, my box. She's my ship."

"Whoa, hold on, your ship?" Howard asked.

"Yes,"

"I'm not understanding." Robbie said.

"OK, I'll tell you who I am, but you won't believe me." The Doctor told them.

"We just saw our friend be taken away by something unexplainable. I think we might believe you after that." Gary said. The others nodded, after what happened to Mark, their minds were now open to believe a lot more.

"OK, fine. I'm the Doctor; I'm from a different planet from a different universe. I was flying through the vortex when I landed up here." The Doctor explained briefly, he hated having to explain to people who he was.

"What species?" Howard asked. "That's a question I thought I would never ask." He laughed.

"Time Lord. Last of them. They all died in a war many years ago, but I don't want to go into that. Too many bad memories." The Doctor said.

"How do you mean a different universe?" Jason asked.

"Well, Jason, there are many parallel universes all stacked up against each other. This one is one of thousands." The Doctor said.

"How can you prove that?" Robbie asked. He wanted the answers more than anyone.

"I'll show you something from my universe." The Doctor put his hand in his pockets and fumbled for a bit before pulling out a CD. He passed it to Gary and he took it and looked at it. "It's from 1993."

The four of them looked at the cover in shock. The cover was of them, all five of them. They were a band called Take That. They all looked at the Doctor for an explanation.

"In my universe you guys became a huge pop band in the 90s. Split up, three of you had solos, and then four of you got back in 2005 and then you were a five again in 2010. Where I'm from, you lot are pretty big." The Doctor told them.

No-one said anything for a while and just stared at the CD cover. Gary had always wanted to do something musical, but was never able to. But knowing that in another life his dream had come true made him feel happy.

"Now come on. Now that's cleared up we need to save Mark." The Doctor took the CD off Gary and put it back in his pocket before getting out six small devises and some sort of wire. He attached the six devises to the door of the TARDIS and also attached the wire. "Robbie, have you still got Mark's necklace?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah," Robbie said.

"Can I have it?"

"OK," Robbie gave the Doctor the necklace and the Doctor attached it to the end of the wire and used the sonic to power the devises up.

"Right, now if we're lucky, then the stone in Mark's necklace should tell us where he is. I've got a feeling that this is connected to him even if it isn't on him. So hopefully it can find whereabouts Mark is." The Doctor told the four of them who were looking slightly confused.

"And what about the things on the door?" Jason asked.

"They will collect all the data from the stone and then work as teleports. I would use the TARDIS – that's my ship's name – but she's still repairing her systems at the moment. So I can't use her." The Doctor said.

"How long will it take?" Howard asked. The Doctor read the readings on his sonic and his face dropped.

"About 12 hours."

"12 hours?" Robbie said. "Mark might not have 12 hours!"

"I know, I know, I'm doing everything I can. Just stay calm. We'll find him, I promise. I didn't realise it was going to take so long." The Doctor said.

"Stay calm? How the hell am I supposed to stay calm when I don't know whether or not my best friend is going to be all right?" Robbie was starting to get angry now so Howard put a hand on his shoulder.

"Rob, calm down, mate. You're not going to be helping Marky if you lose it." Howard told him gently.

"I'm worried about him Howard." Robbie turned to Howard.

"I know, we all are. But you need to be strong for him." Robbie nodded and began to walk back to the shelter where he would try and get some sleep. The rest of them followed and the Doctor followed them after a few seconds more slowly.

When they reached the shelter they all lay down on their beds. The Doctor didn't need to sleep so he was up for the rest of the night thinking what they would do once they found Mark alive and well, cos they would find him alive and well.

Within a few minutes, Gary, Howard and Jason were fast asleep. Robbie lay on his bed staring at the ceiling praying that Mark would be OK. He missed Mark more than anything. He was Robbie's best friend and was always there for him. This time Robbie would return the favour and would be there for Mark. He wasn't going to let him down.

The Doctor looked around the room and saw that Robbie was still awake. He sat up and looked at the young man lying on his bed.

"Not tired?" The Doctor asked. Robbie turned to look at him and shook his head.

"Too worried to sleep."

"I know what it's like, you feel like you've lost him, don't you?" Robbie nodded. "I've lost people in the past. Many people. But Mark's not lost. Not yet. We can still find him. I can see what he means to you." The Doctor said gently. Robbie sat up and put his head down.

"I've known him since we were kids. If I lose him now, I would have lost part of me. He's more than a friend, he's like my brother." Robbie said. "He's always there for me when I need him. He's unlike any other person I've met. He's so kind and caring, always has been."

"I've had people like that before. They always look out for you no matter what and always forgive your mistakes."

"Exactly, that's Mark all over. I don't know where I'd be without him."

"We'll find him."

"I hope so."

"Try and get some sleep now."

"OK," Robbie lay back down and closed his eyes and the Doctor could tell that within a minute Robbie was fast asleep. He smiled before lying down himself and went back to think thoughts.

~TT-DW~

Mark had been in the white room for over a day now with no food or water. He hadn't seen the figure either. He was hungry and thirsty. He was worried he would get sick and die out here all alone. It wasn't the dying that scared Mark it was the fact that he was so far away from home.

Without realising he let out a sob and curled up again. He felt so alone and he was freezing. If he didn't die from dehydration and starvation then he would die from hyperthermia for sure.

He wanted his friends with him to hold him and help him through this. He wanted to tell them that everything would be OK. He needed them more than ever, but he didn't know where they were or that they were all right.

Mark was so scared right now he could have been sick. He probably would have been if he had had anything in his stomach to throw up. He had gagged a couple of times as if he was going to be sick, but of course nothing came up.

He wrapped his arms around himself and closed his eyes. He felt like a small, inferior dot in this huge universe. Mark was used to feeling small, but never had he felt this small before. It was like he didn't even exist. He just hoped that wherever the others were, they were all right and they weren't worrying about him too much.

~TT-DW~

Back on earth, the sun was rising. The Doctor had been up all night thinking about things, but still he had no new ideas other than the way to get them to Mark. But even that, he wasn't sure would work. He sat up and looked at the other four still asleep on their beds. He felt sorry for them; they were scared and worried, though rarely showed it. Occasionally they would show that they were worried for Mark, but never once had they showed their fear for the unknown.

The Doctor sees Jason stir and as he sits up the Doctor smiles at him. "Sleep well?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Jason yawned. "How long have we got until the teleports are ready?" The Doctor looked at his watch.

"About 6 hours."

"I hope we make it in time." Jason said.

"So do I. We have to." The Doctor said. "Tell you what you guys aren't the same without Mark."

"Yeah it feels weird without him."

Howard, Gary and Robbie woke up a while later while Jason was getting breakfast. The smell of food came from the shelter and made the rest of them hungry. He felt like ages since they had last eaten so when they were passed food they ate it like bloody pigs. It was good food though.

An hour after they had eaten one of the guards came in and told them that they were free to go, but if anything happened again they were to come straight back. It felt like being at school again, but they agreed anyway. They all made their way out of the shelter and into the cool fresh air. The sun was shining bright and the clouds were a fluffy white. Everything seemed back to normal, but the Doctor knew nothing was normal in the slightest. Those earthquakes were only the start of what was to come and the Doctor feared that Mark was somehow being forced into what was coming.

For four hours they walked around Manchester doing nothing except walking and talking. They needed something to pass the time with and so this was the only thing they could think of. Gary took them to his favourite music store and played on the piano for a bit. The Doctor had even had a little go and the rest were surprised at how good he was. The Doctor had been very modest of course.

Even though they appeared to be having fun, the worry they had been feeling hadn't faded they just weren't showing it.

Finally those four hours were up and they used the last hour to get back to the TARDIS to see if the teleports were ready to use yet.

When they reached the TARDIS, the Doctor stopped right in front of it and looked around in horror.

"No, no, no, no." The Doctor said.

"What is it?" Jason asked.

"The teleports have been stolen."

"What all of them?" The Doctor nodded grimly. "There's no way we're going to be able to rescue Mark without them. The TARDIS can't fly at the moment and I have no other means of getting us there." The Doctor said.

Gary went around the TARDIS seeing they were anywhere else. He didn't find the teleport but he found the wire and Mark's necklace on the floor behind the box.

"Doctor, they didn't take Mark's necklace." Gary said. The Doctor went around to him and took the necklace from Gary. "I don't know anything about this sort of technology, but couldn't we turn this into a teleport somehow. Maybe one that will take all five of us and bring six of us back?" Gary suggested feeling slightly stupid.

The Doctor looked at Gary for a moment and Gary suddenly felt very self conscious. Then all of a sudden, the Doctor broke into a wide grin. "Gary Barlow, you are a genius!" He kissed the young man's forehead quickly before dashing off to the other side of the TARDIS. "Gary, bring the wire!" The Doctor called. Gary came round the side of the TARDIS carrying the wire. He passed it to the Doctor who attached it to the TARDIS and to the necklace. He then took out his sonic and put it in his mouth.

The Doctor opened the TARDIS as much as she would let him and went inside. When came out he shut the door behind him.

"What did you do?"

"I went to get more string. We might need it. The string on here isn't very long and if we're all going to be using it to get back, we're going need to extend it." The Doctor said. The others just nodded. "Now, I need you to stand back, I don't know what this is going to do. It could spark or something." The Doctor said. He pressed the button on the sonic and the TARDIS sparked just as everyone moved out of the way.

"Was that good?" Howard asked.

"Yes, I think so." The Doctor said.

"You don't sound sure." Robbie noticed.

"Well if I'm honest, I've never turned a necklace into a teleportation devise before. So I really don't know how it's supposed to work." The Doctor admitted. "It's not something I do every day."

"What do you do every day?" Jason asked. The Doctor was free from having to answer when the necklace itself sparked and the stone in the middle began to glow.

"I think it might have worked." The Doctor said. He moved over the where he had put the necklace and untied it from the wire. He then run his sonic over it and smiled. "Gary you are a true genius." The Doctor said.

"Can we go now?" Robbie asked getting impatient. All he wanted to do was rescue Mark and make sure he was all right. He had had enough of faffing; he needed to know if his best friend was OK. At that moment in time, that was all he cared about.

"I think so. Now, I'm hoping this is connected to Mark, but we'll see. Let's just pray this works." The Doctor told the others to grab hold of it somewhere and not to let go until they were there. They all nodded and the Doctor used his sonic as a button to make it work. There was a sudden jolt and they all knew nothing but blackness.

**TBC...**

_**I'm not overly keen on this chapter. But hey, that's my opinion and you guys know me well enough by now to know that I'm always not overly keen on what I write. Please review though! Can't wait to hear what you think!**_

_**~Markie xx**_


	5. Chapter 5

It had been nearly a week since Mark had arrived; well that's what Mark assumed. He was now feeling very ill. He was cold, and so hungry and thirsty that he couldn't remember what it was like to feel full again.

He was so weak now, he wasn't sure he would last much longer. He hadn't moved from where he lay for about four days now. He just didn't have the strength to get up. He barely had the strength to move let alone get up.

Mark knew he had passed out a couple of times over the last week. His body needed food and water. If he didn't get soon, he knew he would die. The thought of dying out here alone made Mark's eyes well up with tears. As they run down his face Mark sniffed. He was so cold that even his tears were cold now.

Suddenly the door opened and Mark did nothing to see who it was. He already knew it would the creature he had met a week ago. He wasn't even sure if there was anyone else on this ship, no-one had been to see him.

"I see you are almost at your weakest. When you are you will be ready to fulfil your destiny." Mark could see the creature stand in front of him now. Or at least he could see his feet. He didn't have the energy to look up.

The creature bent down in front of Mark and moved the hair from his eyes. "Don't worry; soon, your suffering will end. For good." With that, the creature stood back up and left the room, leaving the fragile Mark on the floor again.

~TT-DW~

The Doctor, Gary, Howard, Jason and Robbie landed with a thud on the hard floor. The Doctor opened his eyes and stood up. As he looked around he saw they weren't in some ship like he had originally thought they would land up in. But instead they were on Earth. The Doctor ran out of the alleyway that they had landed in and found an old newspaper on a bench nearby. He picked it up and read the date.

1st July 2012

The day it was not long ago on the Doctor's universe. They day he set the TARDIS to go on a nice trip alone and landed up in Manchester in a parallel universe.

The Doctor walked out a little further. He was in London again. Funny, cos before he landed up in Manchester that's where he's been. He scanned the area and what caught his eye was the blue police box standing at one end of the street. The TARDIS. The Doctor looked down at the paper again. The same date, the same city, the TARDIS. He was back in his universe on the day he's left. But why had they teleported here?

The Doctor ran back to the others who were now all sitting up looking around confused.

"Where are we?" Gary asked.

"London,"

"London?"

"Yep, my universe." The Doctor said.

"Why are we here?" Robbie asked.

"I don't know."

"Maybe Mark's here. Maybe this is where they took him." Jason said.

"Somehow, I don't think a dirty street in the middle of London would be a very good hiding spot." The Doctor said. And besides if he was here, we'd know. Trust me; the public would be all over him. And he might get a few weird looks as he's a lot younger than he is here. It's 2012, meaning he's be 40." The Doctor said.

"Fair enough." Howard said. The four of them stood up and Robbie picked up the necklace.

"What are we going to do? Mark's obviously not here." Robbie said.

"I think he's in this universe though."

"You do?"

"Yes, why else would this thing bring us here?" The Doctor asked them.

"Because it doesn't work properly?" Jason ventured.

"Maybe, but I think he's here just not here. I think he's on some sort of space ship a long way away and the reason it brought us here was because they don't want us getting too close to him." The Doctor explained.

"Y'mean, they know we're coming for him?" Howard asked.

"Maybe not, but I don't think they're taking risks." The Doctor said.

"Then how are we going to get to him?"

"Don't worry, I just need to turn the setting up on this and that should do it. I need to get light on it. Come with me and keep your heads down. If you're seen there'll be loads of questions asked." The Doctor said as he led the group into the sun light. The four of them kept their heads down hoping that they wouldn't be recognised.

The Doctor put the necklace right in view of the sun and pressed the sonic screwdriver button. The blue light hit the cross of the necklace with the sun and the stone in the middle shone brighter than sonic and almost as bright as the sun.

"Mind your eyes. It could get bright." The Doctor said. The others closed their eyes as the stone got brighter. "Grab hold." They did as they were told and grabbed hold of it. The Doctor continued to shine the sonic on it for a little while longer before putting it back into his pocket and holding on to the string with both hands. "Hold on tight. This could be a bumpy ride."

All of a sudden they were moving. They all kept their eyes shut as they were teleported from the Earth to hopefully where Mark was. As soon as they had started they stopped and fell to the floor in a pile of legs and arms.

The Doctor was up first. He dusted himself off before going to help the others up. They were all feeling slightly dizzy and so stood still for a moment before they shook their heads to clear them and looked around at their surroundings.

They were on some sort of ship that was for sure. The walls were made from a grey-blue metal and it looked like something from some sort of sci-fi film. The floor was made from grating, hard and cold. The ceiling was a metal sheet that was so shiny they could see themselves in it looking up.

"Are we in the right place now?" Robbie asked, no more than a whisper.

"I think so." The Doctor whispered back.

Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps coming towards them. The five of them stood back to back so they could see what was coming from all angles. The Doctor got out his sonic and used it to look like he had a weapon.

Door flew open and shoulder-like creatures came marching in.

"Intruders." One of them in a low gruff voice.

"We've come for Mark." Robbie told them in a brave voice.

"Who is this Mark you mention?" Another one asked.

"He's our friend and we want him back." Jason told it.

"We do not know who you are talking about." The first one said again.

"He's human. Fairly short and cute looking. Can't miss him." Gary said.

"You mean the Key." A third shoulder spoke.

"The Key? Key for what?" The Doctor asked.

"We are to become the only ones in these universes and he is the key for that." A forth one said.

"You mean, by using Mark you can destroy everything in the universes except for yourselves?" The Doctor asked already knowing the answer.

"That is correct."

"Well it's not going to happen. Because we are going to rescue Mark and take him home." Robbie almost yelled at them. The Doctor shushed him.

"Are you sure that will work?" The Doctor asked.

"The human child has been developing for the last 29 years. It will work." The first shoulder said.

"He's not a child!" Robbie yelled at them.

"Robbie shut up, it's not helping." The Doctor said. "Well, you will have to get past me to do so." The Doctor told them.

"I don't see that as a problem." A tall figure came into the room. He was dressed in black and his face was just disturbing. "Your little friend is nearly ready for his destiny. He is so very weak now and I suspect by tomorrow he will be weak enough for his job."

"What have you done to him?" Gary asked before Robbie could yell.

"Nothing, we've done nothing to him." With that the figure walked off and the shoulders lead them from the room.

Two of the shoulders continued to lead them down towards what the Doctor suspected to be as the dungeon. He looked at the others. They all had a defeated look on their face and he wasn't going to let them think that they were giving up. Once they were alone they could come up with a plan. The Doctor put his hand in his pocket and made sure his sonic was a far down as it could go. This was one of those times where he was thankful that he had pockets that were bigger on the inside.

The shoulders pushed the five of them into the dungeon and looked the door behind them. The door was made of stone and as soon as it was closed it completely sealed itself. There was no way out by the looks of things.

"That's it we've failed him. After everything he's done for us and we've failed him." Robbie said.

"It's not over yet. I might be able to open the door but before I try we need a plan to get to Mark." The Doctor said.

"What's that?" Jason saw something in the corner and went over to it. It was some sort of coat. He pulled it off and jumped back. Under the coat was a skeleton, but not the usual human skeleton. This one looked like it belonged to one of the creatures that lived on this ship.

"Oh my God." Gary got up and walked over to where Jason was. The skeleton was old. It had obviously been here for years. Gary looked around and saw loads of coat. "There's more of them over here." He said. Howard and the Doctor got up to. Robbie looked from where he was.

"I've got an idea." Howard said.

**TBC...**


	6. Chapter 6

"We need to start now, sir. If the human's friends are here then that means they will do anything to rescue the human."

"We will, soon, Alrist. The friends are in the dungeon and won't be coming out. So we go with the plan. Tomorrow, when he's weaker. We will begin. The young human won't last long now; he'll be near death tomorrow."

"But Master Eldrist, I have a horrible feeling that that tall man with the long coat is a lot smarter than he seems. I think he might find a way out." Alrist said.

"Nonsense that door is deadlocked. They won't be getting out. Now, come on, we need to prepare if we are to be ready for tomorrow." Eldrist made his way over to a large glass container, one that was big enough to fit a human in. Inside there were many wires attached to a metal seat in the middle. Next to it was a control panel with hundreds of buttons. Eldrist went up to it and turned the key. "Not long now until we are the only ones in this universe and every other universe out there. There's no-one to stop us now." Eldrist smiled an evil smile and looked at Alrist who smiled to. Then Alrist went over to the machine and pressed a button. The chair lit up and a low groaning noise came from within.

~TT-DW~

Howard's idea had been to put on the coats and pretend that they were part of the species. Within the coats they had found masks that they had put on. They stank and Jason tried not to hurl when he put his on. The thought of wearing a dead creature's clothes made his stomach turn. It was disrespectful above anything else, but he knew that they had to do this if they were going to have any chance at finding Mark before it was too late.

The Doctor took out his sonic and pointed it at the door. He expected it to open, but nothing happened. "No," he said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Robbie asked from under his mask.

"The door's deadlocked, I can't get us out!" The Doctor kicked the door hard and almost screamed in frustration.

"We have to get out!" Howard said.

"Let me try." Robbie went up to the door and kicked it as hard as he could. Once. Twice. Three times, before giving up and sliding down the wall. "It's no use."

"There must be a way out, Doctor." Gary said going over to him. The Doctor looked around the room trying to find any means of escape. He looked up at the ceiling and found that there was some sort of trap door.

"I think, I might have found something lads." The Doctor said. The others looked up at where he was looking.

"What are we waiting for, let's go." Robbie stood up and made his way to the group.

"Hold on a moment, I need to open it first." The Doctor pointed his sonic at the trap door and pressed the button. The blue light covered the door and it suddenly opened.

"Right how the hell are we supposed to get up there?" Howard asked.

"I'll give you a boost." The Doctor said. He put his hands in a position so Howard could put his foot in. "Right, ready?" The Doctor asked. Howard nodded. The Doctor pushed Howard up and he grabbed hold of the side of the opening and used his arms to pull himself up. When he was inside he turned around and stuck his head out.

"What's it like up there?" Jason asked.

"Dark and cold." Howard replied.

"Right, come on you lot, who's next?" The Doctor asked.

Eventually all four of them were up which only left the Doctor.

"Doctor, jump and we'll pull you up." Gary said. The Doctor nodded and did what he was told. He jumped and Howard and Jason caught his arms and pulled him up into the darkness.

Once everyone was in, the Doctor used his sonic as a torch and looked around.

"Well, it's bigger than I thought. Now which was shall we go?" He asked. The others looked from left to right and back again trying to work out which way would be the best to go.

"Let's go right, we have to go some way." Gary said.

"Okie dokie, right it is then." The Doctor went in front of the group and led the way through the dark tunnel.

The five of them crawled for ages before they came to another door. The Doctor opened it and looked down. The others looked as well and what they could see was a room with machinery and lots of controls. There was a glass container in the room which featured a chair and lots of wires. It was also making some sort of funny sound.

"I don't like the look of that if I'm honest." The Doctor whispered.

"I've got a bad feeling about this place." Jason said.

"We all do mate." Howard told him.

They watched as the door opened and a figure stepped in. He wasn't dressed like the rest, but he still had that horror-movie look to him. He was almost like a mad scientist. He was dressed in a white coat and looked like he knew what he was doing.

"Who d'you think that is?" Howard asked.

"Not sure, but I don't think I want to find out." The Doctor said.

"Who's there?" The mad scientist asked. The five of them froze where they were and the Doctor gently pushed them telling them that they had better be going. They moved alone as quietly as they could. If they got caught they would probably land up being murdered not put back in a dungeon with some creepy skeletons.

"That was close." Robbie whispered.

"Any closer and we would have been caught." Gary finished for him.

"Well we better be careful. If we get caught that could be it." The Doctor told them.

They continued to crawl through the tunnel in silence. All five of them were focused on what they had come here to do.

They came up to some grating in the floor which they could see through. The Doctor was first to look down. When the rest caught up they all looked together. Down below them was a white room. They could see the black figure below them hovering over something on the floor. Robbie felt his heart rate increase with his worst fears as he watched.

"It's time." The creature said. "Time to take you in. Tomorrow will be when the end of everything begins." The creature picked up what he had been talking to and the Doctor heard the rest of the lads take in deep breaths.

"Mark," Robbie breathed. He watched as the creature held Mark's limp form in its arms. Mark was a deathly white and his lips had gone a shade of blue. He looked thinner from what Robbie could see. Robbie couldn't watch any longer as the creature carried Mark out of the room.

"Robbie?" The Doctor asked looking over at the young lad.

"I'm gonna kill that thing." Robbie said rage in his eyes.

"Rob, killing anyone won't help." Gary said.

"You saw Mark, Gary. He's at death's door." Robbie said his voice rising.

"Rob, keep it down, we'll get to him." Jason said.

"Come on, I think I know where he's being taken." The Doctor said. He led the group back the way they had come.

~TT-DW~

Eldrist carried Mark through the building to the machine room where he met once again with Alrist.

"He's not quite ready, but we need to be. He's almost there." Eldrist said. He walked into the glass container and put Mark on the seat. Alrist then came in and began to wire him up. Mark was completely unconscious, he had no idea what was going on. Eldrist stood by the controls and watched as his old friend wired the key to their plans up.

"Eldrist I think he's ready." Alrist said.

"Not yet, my friend. Not yet. Tomorrow morning and he will be." Eldrist told him. "Now, I want you to guard him for the night. Make sure he doesn't wake up or get any stronger. He shouldn't anyway."

"I will," Alrist came out of the container and shut the door behind him. He then began pressing the buttons he needed to in order to set up the machine for when they needed it. He was excited, very excited. Finally, after all these years they were finally going to be doing what they had always planned to do. There was nothing that could go wrong now. Everything was working, everything seemed to be running smoothly and the human's friends were locked in the dungeon with no means of escaping. It was a perfect day.

Not long now, Alrist thought to himself with a smile as he looked over at Mark who was gradually edging closer to death...

**TBC...**

* * *

_**I have to say, this wasn't my favourite chapter. It's not the best. For those who have read my writing before will know that this genre is not my strongest by far. To be honest, I'm not sure what is anymore, but it certainly ain't this. Anyway, regardless of what I think, I hope you enjoyed it. I have a feeling that this is going to be quite a short story. However, I have no idea how long it will be, it just feels like it's going to be short. **_

_**Right, I've rambled on enough now, so I'll see you guys soon! Thanks for reading! **_

_**OAO**_

_**~Markie xx**_


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor led the group back to the trap door they had found over the machine room. When they got there the Doctor saw that the door was still wide open. He looked down and saw the mad scientist again, but it wasn't him he was looking at. What he was looking at was sat in the chair in the glass container. Mark was wired in and the Doctor felt sick looking at him. He looked dead, but the Doctor knew that he was just alive still, but he knew it wouldn't be long.

The others caught him up and looked down with him. Their eyes narrowed and their faces were full of anger. The sight of their friend was enough to make them angry.

The Doctor looked at them and put a hand on Jason's shoulder. Jason turned to look at the Doctor and the Doctor moved away from the opening. He moved further down the tunnel and the others followed him.

"We need to get in that room." Howard said.

"I know, we need to find a way in." The Doctor said. "There's no way we can jump down the opening without getting caught and breaking our ankles."

"We have to find something." Gary said. "I don't think Mark can hold on much longer."

"Right," the Doctor moved back to the opening and looked down. He focused on the door. Next to the door was a sheet of glass that was as clean as anything making it easy to see through. He saw that there was some sort of path outside the room and at the other end of the path was the white room Mark had been in before.

The Doctor did some quick workings out in his head before he moved back towards the others.

"I think I might just have found a way in." The Doctor smiled at them. "Come on." The Doctor crawled towards the grating they been to before. The others followed nervously. They couldn't help but feel sick at the sight they just saw. The sight of their friend close to death and wired up. It was horrible.

When they reached the grating, the Doctor got out his sonic and opened the hatch. They all poked their heads through the opening and saw that the floor was a long way down from where they were.

"Bloody 'ell." Robbie said. "That's a long way down."

"Tell me about it." Howard said.

"Well we've gotta get down. It's the quickest way to the machine room by the looks of things." The Doctor said. He sat down on the edge of the opening and lowered himself down. His hands gripped at the sides and when he was ready he let go and somehow landed on his feet.

"You all right?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, fine thanks." The Doctor said. "Right, you guys coming down?" He asked.

"Guess we're gonna have to." Gary said. He did the same as the Doctor and landed not as gracefully as the Doctor had done. "Ow,"

"You all right?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah, think I did me back in though." Gary said. The Doctor just patted his shoulder.

Howard came down next, followed by Jason and then finally Robbie. When they were all down they looked around the room. It was completely bare other than a large window and a door.

"It's amazing Mark didn't go insane in here." Howard said. "I would've."

"They left him in here for all that time?" Robbie asked horrified. "How long has he been here?"

"No idea," the Doctor admitted. "He could have been here for a lot longer than you would think. You can never be too sure with time travel." Robbie thought it best not to answer that and just continued to look around the room. "Come on, let's go get him." The Doctor walked over to the door and made sure it was clear before he took out his sonic and used it to open the door.

The door was heavy and it took everything the Doctor had to push the door open and keep it so. He ushered the others over to where he was and they ran up to him and out of the door. When all five of them were out the Doctor shut the door.

He looked down the long corridor that they were standing in. From where they had been before, it had seemed like short journey from here to the machine room. But from where they stood now, it seemed like an impossibly long walk. The Doctor could just make out the door to the room they wanted to be in as he stared straight ahead of him. He turned to the four lads looking in the same direction.

"We've got to hurry." He said. And he began to walk down the path. Normally he would have run or at least jogged, but he couldn't risk getting caught again, none of them could. They had come too far for it to end now.

"Do you think we'll make it in time?" Jason asked the Doctor.

"I hope so." The Doctor said simply back.

"Where are you going?" A voice came from behind them. The group came to a halt and they made sure that their masks and outfits were on right before they turned around. "No-one's allowed to go in." The creature told them.

"We've been given permission to go in." Robbie said putting on his best accent. The Doctor was so glad that Robbie worked in a drama group.

"Well, I'm sure I would've have heard something."

"Obviously you weren't." Robbie told him.

"Never mind, if you have permission go ahead." The creature turned away and walked back down the corridor. Robbie waited until it had gone before letting out the breath he had been holding after speaking.

"Thank god." He said. "That was real close."

"Come on, let's go before he realises we weren't given permission." Jason said taking Robbie by the wrist and pulling him along.

The walk felt like it went on forever. Howard had had a feeling that by the time they were old and grey they still wouldn't be there. But thankfully Howard was proved entirely wrong, even if it was a joke he was having with himself to keep him going, as the door to the machine room grew nearer and nearer by the second.

Finally they reached it and the Doctor opened the door and the five of them were about to step inside when the mad scientist creature turned around and looked at them with stern eyes.

"What in Eldrist's name are you doing here?" The creature asked.

"Special permission." Robbie said in his creature voice again.

"I will not have it. You are to leave, leave now. I allow no-one other than Eldrist in here and he knows it." The creature wasn't buying Robbie's story.

"Well we have permission." Robbie repeated with more force.

"I know you don't. Now get out." The creature pushed them through the door and Robbie did the first thing that came into his mind at that point. He punched the creature righ in the face and he fell to the floor unconscious.

"Rob!" Gary said slightly horrified. "What did you do?"

"Knocked him out. I'm not going to waste more time trying to get him to let us in. Now come on." Robbie stepped over the creature and headed straight for the glass container where Mark sat unconscious. "Mark! Mark, we're here, we've come to save you." Robbie banged on the door, hoping that his little friend would give him some sort of sign to tell him that he was still with them. "Mark!" Robbie yelled as he did so.

The Doctor came up to him and pulled him away from the door. Robbie tried to wriggle out of the Doctor's grasp but the Time Lord was too strong. Robbie felt like screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Robbie, calm down." The Doctor said.

"But Mark..."

"I know, he'll be fine."

"We need to get him out of there!" Robbie yelled.

"We can't, not until we know it's safe. If we just break in, it could do more harm than good." The Doctor said. Robbie went over to his friends and Howard wrapped his arms around him.

"Doctor, what's going to happen now?" Howard asked. The Doctor was about to answer but a low voice answered for him.

"Now, you are all going to die."

**TBC...**

* * *

_**OK, now this is my least favourite chapter. It was so hard to write. I want to span the story out as much as I can; I don't want it to come to a sudden stop. But that might not work as much as I hope. Anyway, please let me know what you think. And thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. You guys are awesome!**_

_**OAO**_

_**~Markie xx**_


	8. Chapter 8

The creature – Eldrist – took out a blaster gun and pointed it straight at the five of them. The Doctor moved so he was in front of the group shielding them from what might be to come. He knew his life was less important than theirs.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"I am Eldrist; I am the master of the Islesandoes, soon to be the leader of the greatest and only race in existence anywhere." Eldrist said with much pride. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor; I'm a Time Lord – the last of the Time Lords." The Doctor said.

"I thought you all died in the last great Time War, but apparently not. Clearly I've been mistaken."

"Clearly," the Doctor agreed.

"No matter, because I can fix that." Eldrist put his finger on the trigger and suddenly everything felt like it was in slow motion. Eldrist pulled the trigger, sending a sudden lethal blast out of the gun. Thankfully, everyone had ducked just in time and the blast hit the glass behind them and broke the container containing Mark. Fragment of glass flew everywhere.

Eldrist looked away from the group for a split second and the Doctor took this chance to knock the gun out of his hands and pick it up from the floor. He put it in his pocket so that there was no chance of it getting used again.

The controls suddenly sparked and despite the shock Eldrist had when the Doctor took his gun off him, he ran over to the controls and began pressing buttons. Nothing happened.

"What have you done?" He cried. "It's broken!"

Robbie ran over to Mark who was still in the chair. Glass had landed on him and some had even cut him. Robbie brushed the glass of his friend and began to unwire him from the chair. He then picked up the small weak man up off the chair and with Mark still in his arms, Robbie sat down on the floor and rested Mark's head on his lap.

"Mark, wake up." Robbie shook Mark gently as tears formed in his eyes. He couldn't lose him not now they had come this far. He quickly checked Mark's pulse and sighed in relief when he found it. The problem was, it was too weak and slowly fading. "Mark, come on, wake up!" Robbie was crying, he didn't want to, but he couldn't help it. If he didn't do something soon, he would lose him.

The Doctor turned to look and ran over to where Robbie was. He took off his coat and placed it over Mark like a blanket in order to keep him as warm as he could. Mark's kips were completely blue and he was a pale as anything.

"Doctor, please help him." Robbie felt another tear roll down his cheek.

"Just stay with him and talk to him. It'll keep him going for a while." The Doctor stood up and squeezed Robbie's shoulder before heading over to Eldrist. Everyone else stood to the side, unsure about what to do. They were also too shocked to move. It was as if someone had turned them into statues.

"You have broken the machine." Eldrist cried looking straight at the Doctor in the eye.

"Not me, you're the one who fired the gun. All we did was duck like any normal person would have when being shot at." The Doctor said stuffing his hands in his pockets as he continued to walk nearer.

"Never mind, all great plans come with a back-up. If the machine won't work then I can always use this." Eldrist took a remote control devise out of his pocket and held it in his hand. "The explosion will still go off."

"Except, you can't. Haven't you worked that out yet? There are two reasons to why that will not work. One being that Mark over there isn't wired up to the machine. You need him to be wired up, because, I've worked it out y'see. Mark had a reaction to the sonic screwdriver and no human has ever had a reaction to it, no matter what setting it may be on. It has just never happened. Mark's not going to _cause _the explosion because Mark _is_ the explosion." The Doctor said. Gary, Howard, Jason and Robbie turned to look at the Doctor and Eldrist with looks mixed with shock and horror.

"What?" Gary just managed to say,

"For the last 29 years, ever since the day Mark was born, you've had this explosion building up inside him until one day you can see that it's finally ready. How you managed to do it, I'll never know, must be some super technology you have, but that's beside the point." The Doctor took a step forward and pulled out the necklace from his pocket. "And that's why Mark's always had this. It was for protection so the explosion didn't go off unplanned. You need Mark to be weak so you can set it off. The explosion sucks up all the energy and if Mark happened to get really sick one day, if he didn't have this, that explosion could have easily gone off."

Robbie looked down at Mark and gently stroked his hair. His best friend was a weapon and for all these years that weapon had been growing inside him and he hadn't even known about it. The mere thought of it made Robbie feel sick.

"And of course," the Doctor carried on, "the second reason to why you can't set Mark off is because he's not weak enough yet. Far from it from what I can tell. Mark's stronger now because he feels safe." The others – including – Eldrist gave the Doctor confused looks. "Even though Mark may be unconscious, his subconscious can still feel presence. With this explosion inside him, it's even stronger, hence the reason why Mark can tell if people don't belong in certain places. Like with me, Robbie told me that Mark felt like I didn't belong here, not many people have managed to guess that before. And because of that he can tell when he's safe or not and that makes him stronger." The Doctor moved over to where Robbie and Mark were. "Mark feels safest when he's with his friends, but especially with one friend in particular. I could tell that right from the start. And who's his best friend?" He turned to look at Robbie. "Robbie Williams. Mark feels safest when he's with Robbie and therefore feels stronger. He's doing his upmost to hold on to that last little bit of life he has left because he knows that Robbie is here with him. So, as long as Robbie's here near Mark – even if they're in the same room – you can't set him off. You can wire him up, but it won't work, not with Robbie here." The Doctor smiled. "Face it Eldrist, your plan has failed cos there is no way you can take Robbie away from Mark. They're like Ant and Dec; you can't have one without the other." The Doctor finished his speech and looked at Eldrist.

"Then I have no other choice but to kill him." Eldrist looked at Robbie, who looked terrified. All of a sudden Gary stepped forward.

"You'll have to get passed me before you have any chance in that matter." Gary said with bravery.

"And me," Howard said also stepping forward.

"And me," Jason stepped forward too. The Doctor smiled at them and then looked back at Eldrist.

"Y'see, there's no way your plan can go ahead now. Admit it, you've failed. There's nothing you can do." The Doctor said. Eldrist stood there looking from one person to the other and back again.

"Then, I will kill you all." An evil grin spread across his face and he got another gun out of his pocket.

Robbie dived in the Doctor's coat which was still covering Mark and got out the gun. He gently lay Mark down on the floor properly and stood up. No-one had noticed him yet and so he pointed the gun straight at Eldrist. His hand shaking from the nerves he was feeling. He felt like he was going to faint, but breathed deeply to calm himself before speaking.

"Don't you dare hurt my friends! You've already hurt Mark and I will not have you hurting anyone else." Robbie said with confidence. The Doctor turned to look at him in shock.

"Robbie, no." He said, but Robbie took no notice. Eldrist looked at him with his eyes narrowed.

"Go on then, kill me. If you have the guts to." Eldrist said.

"Stop this whole thing and go back home or I'll shoot." Robbie said.

"Would you really?"

"You wanna bet?"

"You don't have to guts to. I can see it in your eyes." Eldrist walked towards Robbie slowly, the gun in his hand never once moving from Robbie's face. "Go on, if you think you can." Eldrist slowly began to pull the trigger. Robbie panicked and starting shaking. Suddenly, no-one knew what was happening and a shot ran through the room. Eldrist fell to the floor at the same time as Robbie.

There was blood. And a lot of it, but only coming from Eldrist who lay still on the floor. Robbie was in a heap on the floor having realised what he had just done. Everyone went over to him and the Doctor bent down in front of the young lad.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Hey, it's OK."

"I don't know what happened." Robbie was shaking violently. Howard wrapped an arm around him whilst Gary and Jason checked on Mark. "Doctor, I didn't mean to." He said. The Doctor put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's all right." He said quietly.

"I killed him." Robbie's voice was no more than a whisper now. "I killed him." He repeated. Howard hugged his friend.

The Doctor stood up and went over to the body of Eldrist lying on the floor, covered in blood. He was about to say something when someone spoke.

"What on Earth? ELDRIST!" It was the mad scientist – Alrist – having woken up. He ran over to his master and fell to the floor beside him. "He's dead. What have you done?" He asked looking at the group. "Whoever did this is dead!"

"Listen; tell your people Eldrist died tragically in the blast. It was no-one's fault. Tell them and get out of here before I force you." The Doctor said. Alrist looked at the Doctor. "It was you! YOU killed him!"

"No, I didn't. Now go tell your people and go home."

"But you're stuck there's nothing left."

"The explosion never went off." The Doctor said. "Now, if you don't go, I will do it for you." Alrist stood up. "You are the master now. You have the power to change the ways of your people and turn yourselves into a nicer more pleasant people. What Eldrist did was selfish and wrong. I'm giving you a chance to make things right. Take that chance or what will happen next is your own doing." The Doctor stood up and Alrist ran off down the corridor. The Doctor prayed that he made a chance for the good and that things would be better.

He walked back over to the group and knelt down with them. Robbie had gone back over to Mark and was holding him. The other three were with him. The Doctor got out the necklace and told them to hold on.

"Come on, we've got to hurry if Mark has any chance of surviving." The Doctor said. Everyone took hold and the Doctor used his sonic to activate the teleport.

One second they were there. The next they were gone, leaving Eldrist's dead body in the middle of broken glass and broken machinery.

Now, it was a race against time to save a life...

**TBC...**

* * *

_**Nearly there now. You lot are lucky you got this chapter. I didn't think I would get it up today. Sorry if the ending isn't too good. It was quite hard to write after Jason says 'And me." That was as far as I got to in the draft I did last night. The rest, I just went with the flow. **_

_**Anyway, thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.**_

_**OAO**_

_**~Markie x**_


	9. Chapter 9

They landed with a thud on the ground. Robbie was still holding Mark tightly as if letting him go would cause him to die. Jason, Howard, Gary and the Doctor stood up and the Doctor thanked the Lord that they had landed back at the TARDIS.

The Doctor took out his key and unlocked the door. "Come on," the Doctor said through gritted teeth as he unlocked the door in a hurry causing him to have difficulties. When the door was open the Doctor turned to Robbie.

"Follow me with Mark." The Doctor said. Robbie looked at him before picking the smaller man up and carrying him inside following the Doctor.

"What? We can't go in there! I know Mark's small, but he's not going to get in there with us in as well!" Robbie said.

"Robbie, trust me. Please, we don't have much time. We have four minutes at the most." The Doctor said. Robbie didn't say anything else and picked Mark up and carried him in his arms before following the Doctor inside.

As soon as they were inside, Robbie took a breath in and almost ran back outside with Mark in his arms. It was huge in here! There was no possible way that this was possible. He stood stunned for a moment and was really quite scared. He wanted to go back outside where it was normal.

"Robbie! Hurry up!" The Doctor shouted. He looked over at the Doctor with a scared expression.

"It..." he started.

"I know, I'll explain later, but first we need to get Mark sorted. Now come on." Robbie followed the Doctor again still looking around the place thinking how impossible this all was. Despite how scared he felt and how shocked he was to find himself in a police box that was bigger on the inside, Robbie put it to one side for the time being and focused on getting Mark to where the Doctor was taking him.

He followed the Doctor into a white room, which Robbie assumed was a medical bay of some kind. There was everything in here that he had seen in hospitals and that, but also things that he had never seen before in his life.

"Robbie, over here." The Doctor called. Robbie walked up to the Doctor and the Doctor told him to lay Mark down on the bed. As soon as he had done so, the Doctor began to wire him up to machines and the first thing that came into Robbie's mind was the image of Mark wired up to the chair on that ship, about to be used for an explosion. He slowly sat down on a chair, the image still clear as day in his head.

Robbie put his head in his hands, unable to look at the Doctor or Mark. He felt sick again. He took in deep breaths and tried to think about something else, but the image that would probably haunt him for the rest of his life wouldn't fade.

The Doctor finished setting everything up. Mark was now in a coma, wired up to a life support machine. There wasn't much else anyone could do now; it was up to Mark. He would wake up when he was ready – if he was ever ready. The Doctor turned to where Robbie was sat with his head in his hands. He walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"You all right?" The Doctor asked.

"I can't look at him." Robbie whispered. "I just can't. Not after I saw him wired up to that chair."

"I know, but Mark needs you. Without you he might not wake up." The Doctor put an arm around Robbie. "Look, I'll leave you alone with him and I'll go and see how the others are." The Doctor stood up and left Robbie alone with Mark.

Robbie slowly looked up at Mark lying on the bed. Mark was still too pale and the cuts caused by the glass looked painful. He swallowed before making his way over to his friend and sitting on the chair next to the bed. He took hold of Mark's hand and took in a deep breath before speaking.

"Mark, please wake up, mate. We need you. Nothing will be the same without you." Robbie didn't really know what to say to Mark. It felt weird talking to him while he was in a coma, he didn't know if Mark could hear him or not. In a way, because of that, it felt like he was talking to himself. "Come on, please. Please, wake up." Robbie said, holding Mark's hand tighter.

"How is he?" Robbie turned to see Gary, Howard and Jason in the doorway.

"In a coma." Robbie answered.

"He'll be fine, Rob." Jason said as the three of them walked up to the bed. "Mark's strong. You know he is." The three of them sat down too and looked at their friend.

"But what if he never wakes up? What then?" Robbie asked.

"Don't think about that. Stay positive, it'll keep both you and Mark going." Gary said putting a hand on his friend's back. Robbie just bowed his head and didn't say anything.

The four of them sat in silence for what seemed like a life time. The only sound coming from the room was the occasion beep for the life support machine Mark was wired up to. Other than that, you could hear the quietest pin drop.

The Doctor came back in to see how the guys were. He slowly opened the door. He had expected to hear them talking either to Mark or amongst themselves, but they weren't. No-one said anything. The Doctor thought about turning around and leaving the four of them alone with Mark, but when he looked at his watch he saw that it was very nearly midnight and that it was probably best if they got some sleep now. All of them looked exhausted. It was as if they hadn't slept in weeks. The worry they all felt for Mark at this time had won them out more than rescuing him had.

"You guys might want to get some sleep now, it's getting late." The Doctor told them as he walked into the room. They all turned towards the Doctor. "I've got some spare rooms if you want."

"Thanks," Howard said. They all – apart from Robbie – stood up. Robbie had turned back to Mark and didn't look like he was going to move. "Rob, you coming?" Howard asked. Robbie shook his head.

"I'm gonna stay." He said quietly.

"You sure?" Jason asked. Robbie just nodded. The Doctor then led the rest of them out of the room and down the corridor leaving Robbie alone with Mark again.

Robbie was exhausted there was no denying that. He wanted to go to sleep, but he didn't want to leave Mark on his own throughout the night. If he woke up he would probably be alone and pretty frightened the say the least. Mark had no idea where he was and so waking up alone didn't seem like a good idea. Besides, Robbie wanted to be with him when he awoke.

A few minutes later the Doctor came back in the room and sat down next to Robbie by Mark's bed.

"I'm staying with him." Robbie said, there was no way he was going to leave his side.

"I thought you might." The Doctor said.

"I don't want him to wake up alone and not have anyone to tell him where he is." The Doctor just nodded.

"I understand."

"God I hate seeing him like this. It's just not right. We never thought anything like this would happen to any of us, least of all Mark. I don't mean the whole explosion thing; I'm talking about the coma and being so close to death." Robbie said. "If anyone, I would have expected this to happen to me, but no, it had to happen to Mark."

"I know, but there's nothing you could have done to stop it." The Doctor told him.

"I wish we could've though. If we had known before hand what was going on, maybe we could have done something sooner."

"Robbie there was no way you would have known anything about what was happening to Mark. That was what Eldrist wanted. He didn't want anyone else to know because if they did, no doubt they would have tried to stop it. Even Mark himself knew nothing." The Doctor explained.

The two of them didn't say anything for a while and sat there in silence both caught up in their own thoughts. Robbie couldn't help but think about what would have happened if they hadn't got to Mark in time and the explosion had gone off. None of them would be here now. They had saved the universes from being blown up into nothing, leaving only one race in existence behind. The Doctor couldn't help but think about what would have happened if they had saved Mark from being used for the end of everything, but hadn't been able to get him here in time to save his life. If that had happened he wasn't sure what he would have done.

The hours went by and Robbie was now alone with Mark again. The Doctor had gone off to check something to do with the ship. Robbie had been meaning to ask how the TARDIS was bigger inside than out, but at the moment, he didn't really care. All he cared about was Mark waking up and being OK. Everything else would come later. For now though, Mark getting better was the only thing he needed to concentrate on.

Eventually, Robbie fell asleep with his head resting on the bed. The Doctor had come in to see how he was and had smiled to himself when he saw him fast asleep. He had then shut the door slowly and quietly, leaving the two of them alone again.

**TBC...**

* * *

_**OK, so you've probably gathered by now that I'm quite a big Willowen fan. I love their chemistry together. The funniest TT interviews are normally the ones where you have Robbie and Mark together. Me and my friend both think they should have their own comedy show. We'd both watch it and she's not even that big of a fan of TT. **_

_**Anyway, thank you for reading again. I don't think this will be much longer now; I'm surprised I even made it to nine chapters! **_

_**So yeah, not long now. Will Mark wake up, or will he not wake up?**_


	10. Chapter 10

Days went by and there was still no sign to say that Mark was going to come out of his coma. Howard, Jason and Gary had been able to go out and about to clear their heads every now and again, while Robbie had barely left Mark's side. They were all getting worried about him now. If Mark didn't wake up soon, the others didn't really know what would become of Robbie. It was a scary thing to think about and a thought that despite how hard they tried to rid of it, never wanted to leave their heads.

With Mark still in his coma the Doctor knew he couldn't leave, no matter how much he wanted to. He didn't really want to stay here much longer, but knew that if they moved Mark now it could – and probably would – kill him. That was the last thing that the Doctor wanted and so he had to be patient and wait. He didn't have a clue how long he was going to be here, but he would wait for however long it took for Mark to wake up, because despite how low everyone's hopes (though, no-one really showed it, but the Doctor could still tell) seemed to be, he tried to be the one who gave them the hope that they needed to be able to get through this.

~TT-DW~

The days slowly turned into weeks and then even slower into months. It had been nearly two months now and the Doctor could see that everyone was just about ready to give up hope. To be honest, he was starting to lose hope as well. He didn't want to; he wanted at least someone to be optimistic and if that had to be him then he really didn't give a damn. But it had been two months now and Mark hadn't given any sign whatsoever. If Mark didn't awake soon, then they would have to have a serious think about what they were going to do. If he didn't wake up soon it could mean that he might never wake up, meaning that the best thing to do would be to turn off the life support machine. But, that was a last resort and it was certainly one the Doctor hoped never to use.

The Doctor walked into the library and saw everyone – minus Robbie – sitting down on the beanbags. The Doctor had shown them around about a week after they got back and he had also explained to them about the sizing of the TARDIS. They had been shocked of course, but they were too busy worrying about their friend to really care. They could be on a different bloody planet and it still wouldn't make any difference to them.

"You guys all right?" The Doctor asked as he sat down next to Jason.

"Yeah," Gary said putting down his book. The four of them sat in an awkward silence for a while before Howard finally broke the silence, which, by then had become deafening.

"Do you think Mark will wake up?" He asked quietly.

"I hope so," Jason said with his head down.

"It's been two months though." Howard reminded them.

"I know. Sometimes it feels twice as long." Gary said.

"Guys, I know this isn't a thought you really wanna be thinking," The Doctor started. "But if Mark doesn't wake up soon, then we really need to think about what will be best for him."

"Are you saying that we should turn the life support off?" Howard asked.

"If we have to. It's a last resort, but it may have to be that way."

"We can't do that." Howard stood up. "We just can't!"

"Howard, I said it was a last resort. A very last resort. Hopefully, it won't come to that." The Doctor said. Howard sat back down.

"No, that's not an option." He mumbled. Jason put a hand on his shoulder and the room went silent once more.

~TT-DW~

The constant beep from the life machine was slowly driving Robbie insane, but he couldn't leave Mark on his own. He would stay with his friend until he awoke. Robbie hadn't left Mark's side in days and if he did it was only for things like going to the toilet – well in fact that was the only reason he left Mark's side. Other than that, he sat with his friend praying that he would wake up that day.

The other lads would come in a lot and see how they both were. They would stay for hours until they needed to all get some air. Robbie knew he needed to get out, have a walk somewhere just to clear his head, but he couldn't leave Mark. He just couldn't. He knew it was starting to get ridiculous and is he was in here much longer he knew he would eventually lose it. But there wasn't anything strong enough to pull him away.

Robbie was so caught up in his thoughts that when the door opened he jumped a mile. He then turned around to see the Doctor in the door way.

"You OK?" He asked. Robbie just nodded. "Maybe you should go out for a bit. Clear your head then come back." The Doctor suggested.

"I can't... I can't leave him."

"Robbie, you're going to go insane if you don't get out. Look, I'll stay with Mark while you're out and I will make sure that if anything happens you are told ASAP. You don't have to be out long, just so that your head feels a bit clearer." The Doctor said sitting next to him. Robbie thought for a moment and looked at Mark for a moment. After a little while he answered.

"All right, I'll go out. Just, please, promise me you'll tell me if anything happens." Robbie said.

"Will do. Now go on, get some air." The Doctor smiled at Robbie and Robbie stood up before walking out of the room looking back at Mark once more before pulling the door up behind him.

The Doctor watched him go before turning to Mark. It was good to see Robbie move again. The Doctor knew it wouldn't be long until he got back but even a little bit of fresh air would be good for him.

~TT-DW~

Robbie leaned against the side of the TARDIS and closed his eyes. It felt good to feel the wind on his face again and to be out in the fresh air. Now he was out of the TARDIS he realised just how stuffy it could get in there.

For a few moments, Robbie brushed aside any worries that were in his head – especially the ones concerning Mark – and just concentrated on taking in deep breaths and letting them out. For those few moments it was like nothing had happened at all.

Robbie opened his eyes again and saw the damage the Earthquake had done two months ago. Everything was starting to be repaired now, but the damage was still visible. It would be a long time until everything was back to normal again.

The TARDIs door opened and Jason stepped out. Robbie turned to him and Jason smiled.

"Good to see you out." He said leaning on the TARDIS next to Robbie.

"The Doctor thought it was best that I got some fresh air." Robbie said quietly.

"Well he's right. You were stuck in there for the best part of two months. How did you not go insane?" Jason asked.

"I dunno, but any longer in there without a break and I think I might have done." Robbie said. Jason looked at him. He could tell that Robbie wasn't himself and that he was still extremely worried about Mark, but then again, they all were.

"Well, at least you've now had a break." Jason said. Robbie nodded and the two of them didn't speak for a long time.

Finally, just before the silence between them begun to get too awkward and unbearable, Robbie spoke:

"Jay, what if Mark never wakes up?" Robbie asked quietly. Jason looked at him and then looked down.

"I dunno. Try not to think about that too much. There's still a good chance that he will wake up."

"But there's also a good chance that he won't. I don't know what I'll do if Mark dies."

"He's going to be OK, Rob. He will wake up. You just have to stay positive." Robbie looked at Jason.

"I hope you're right, Jay. I hope to God that you're right."

**TBC...**

* * *

_**Thought this was a good place to end it. Hope you liked this chapter. I'm thinking that there will only be about two more chapters. I've kinda got the rest of the plot in my head and I don't see how it will be over two more chapters. **_

_**Please let me know what you thought! I love hearing for you all!**_

_**OAO**_

_**~Markie! xx**_


	11. Chapter 11

Another month came and passed and still there had been no sign from Mark that he was at all ready to wake up. The month had slowly come and gone and everyone was losing what little hope they had left with every passing second.

Robbie hadn't left Mark's side for the whole month. Everyone had tried to get him out again because the fresh air last time had done him good. But this time there was no luck. It had taken them two months to do it before hand. There was no way they were going to get him out anytime soon.

~TT-DW~

Gary was on one of his little jogs around Manchester. He had left about an hour ago according to his watch and really he should start to be thinking about heading back, but the fresh air made him think about things that didn't make him worry. It made him feel like a hell of a lot of weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He didn't want to have to go back and feel it pile on again.

As he ran he saw that the sky was darkening and it looked like it would start to rain any moment now. That didn't bother him though; in fact he welcomed the rain. It had been rather muggy lately and so a nice storm would be good. It would clean the air and make everything seem that little bit fresher. Almost like a new start.

Gary finally began to head back to the TARDIS as the rain started to pour. As it got heavier, Gary ran faster so he wouldn't be out in it for too long. By the time he reached the TARDIS it was hammering it down and he was now soaking wet from head to toe.

When he was in he jogged to the room he had been staying in to dry off and change. The run had cleared his head of worries, but now he was back inside and no longer running, he felt the worries in his head make their way back. He tried to block them out, but nothing worked.

~TT-DW~

Robbie sat by Mark's bed and looked at his friend. He had done the same thing now for the last three months. Nothing had changed. The beeping of the life support machine was the same annoying beep that was still slowly driving Robbie insane; the walls were the same plain white; everything was still in the same place as it had always been in and Mark was still in the same position that he had been in for three months. If it wasn't for the very small movement of Mark's chest rising and falling he would easily look dead. The cuts on his body from the glass back on the ship had now mostly healed, but that was the only thing that had done. His face was still very pale and he was still looking on the thin side. Robbie was desperate for him to wake up so he could help Mark get back to normal. It wasn't easy seeing your best friend lying on what could easily be their death bed. It was very hard knowing that if anything stopped working, it could land up killing Mark. That was one thing that Robbie was still optimistic about. He was pretty sure that the equipment wasn't about to stop working. Other than that, he didn't hold much hope anymore. He wanted to, but he just couldn't. Of course he still believed that Mark would wake up, but not as much as he did three months ago. With every new day, that chance seemed to be slipping away.

There was a creaking sound as the door opened. Robbie turned around to see Gary in the door way. Gary smiled at Robbie before sitting down next to him.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Been better." Robbie answered quietly. "I'm not sure Mark's going to wake up anymore." Robbie admitted.

"Rob, you have to think positive. We all do. Mark will wake up eventually. He's just not ready yet. Once he's ready he'll wake up." Gary said.

"Gary, it's been three months. Three bloody long months and there's been no sign!"

"I know, but give him time." Gary patted his friend's back before standing up again. "I'm gonna go and get something to eat, do you want anything?" Robbie shook his head. "All right, I'll see you later." Gary smiled sympathetically at Robbie and Mark before he left the room and pulling the door up behind him. Robbie watched as Gary went before turning back to Mark and letting out a sigh.

"Mark, please, wake up. I don't know if you can hear me or not but if you can I want you to know that everyone is missing you at the moment and they have done for the last three months. It's not the same without you. We need our little, cheeky, smiley friend to keep us going. It's, like, without you, the world just seems a much sadder place. God, that's so soppy, but I don't care. You're my best friend. No you're more than that, you're like the older – but smaller brother I never had. Please, Mark, just wake up." Robbie said, hoping that Mark would hear him and wake up. Robbie sighed when nothing happened.

Robbie took hold of Mark's hand and closed his eyes, praying that something would happen.

Just then, when he was about to let go, Robbie could have sworn he felt Mark's hand grip his.

Robbie opened his eyes in a flash and looked at Mark. "Mark? Mark, can you hear me?" Robbie asked. He then felt Mark's hand grip his again. "Mark, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand." Mark squeezed Robbie's hand gently, but firmly. "Mark..." Robbie breathed.

There was then a barely audio groan from where Mark lay and Robbie looked at him. Robbie then saw Mark's eyes twitch and that was when he jumped from his seat and ran to the door.

"Guys! Guys, Mark's waking up!" He yelled down the corridor hoping that someone would hear him. "Guys! Come quickly!" Robbie ran back to Mark's side and sat back down, not once taking his eyes off his friend and he let out another groan and his eyes twitched again.

Mark's eyes then slowly began to open. Robbie watched his friend with a big grin on his face. When Mark had opened his eyes as much as he could, the first thing he saw was Robbie grinning at him.

"Mark! You're awake!" Robbie said excitedly. Mark didn't say anything and just groaned instead. He blinked a couple of times before opening his eyes fully.

"Rob?" Mark said hoarsely, his voice well out of use and very quiet.

"Hey," Robbie smiled at him again.

"Where am I?" Mark asked.

"In the TARDIS."

"What?"

"Y'know, the Doctor's blue box."

"Oh,"

"You OK?" Robbie asked.

"No,"

"What's wrong?"

"Sore," Mark wasn't up for speaking in long sentences yet, but Robbie didn't need him too. He could kinda guess how Mark was feeling. Like shit was probably the most accurate assumption.

"Thought so."

"What 'appened?"

"It's a long story. One that the Doctor should probably answer for you when everyone else gets here." Robbie told him. Mark nodded slowly.

Just then the door opened and everyone else piled into the room.

"Rob, what happened? We hear shouting." Jason said. Robbie moved out of the way so they could see Mark on the bed looking at them. "Mark?"

"Hi,"

"God you sound awful." Howard said.

"Feel it too."

"How long have you been awake?" Gary asked.

"Not long,"

"Good to see you finally in the land of the living." The Doctor said as everyone made their way up to the bed.

"Had as worried for the last three months." Howard said with a smile.

"Sor... wait, how long?" Mark asked thinking he's heard wrong.

"You've been in a coma for the last three months." Jason said. "We were starting to think that you would never wake up." Mark looked away from them.

"What happened?" Mark asked quietly. The Doctor stepped forward. Mark didn't know what it was, but when the Doctor stepped forward Mark could suddenly tell that what the Doctor was about to say wasn't going to be good. Mark swallowed and waited.

"Mark, for the last 29 years of your life an explosion had been growing inside you. No-one knew it was there, but Eldrist – the creature who kidnapped you really – was going to use you to wipe out every race except his. He had wired you up in order to do so. But we managed to get there just in time. You were very close to death by this point." The Doctor told Mark.

"How did you stop him?" Mark asked.

"Well, I worked out that while Robbie was near you, you couldn't be set off."

"Set off?" Mark's eyes widen in horror.

"Mark, like I said you had an explosion growing inside you. You were basically a bomb that would detonate causing a very big explosion."

"Oh,"

"Anyway, while Robbie was with you, you couldn't be set off because I worked out that you feel safest with Robbie." Mark and Robbie looked at each other. "The two of you are inseparable. I could tell that from when I first met you. You keep each other safe and make each other feel safer." The Doctor smiled at the two of them.

"But how does Rob being there stop me from going off?"

"Eldrist needed you to be as weak as you could be before death. That's why you were so close to death."

"I was left in a room without food and water for about a week..." Mark remembered.

"Exactly, but when Robbie was near you, you were stronger cos you knew that Robbie would be there for you." The Doctor told him.

"Tell him about the necklace." Jason said from where he stood.

"Oh yeah," the Doctor got out the necklace and held it in his hand. "This isn't just an ordinary necklace; this is what stopped you from going off as a child." The Doctor said. "It's for protection. If you ever got really sick or had a near death experience before Eldrist thought you were old enough and ready enough for the job, without this you would have gone off. How long have you had it?" The Doctor asked.

"As long as I can remember." Mark said. The Doctor passed it to Mark and Mark looked at it. "Pretty much all my life."

"Robbie said you always had it."

"Will it still work?"

"How do you mean?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, if that thing's still inside me isn't there a chance it will still go off?" Mark said.

"No, it's gone now. You're safe and Eldrist is dead. You have Robbie to thank for that one." Robbie winced, he hated what he had done, but at least he had saved Mark. Mark looked at Robbie and smiled at him Robbie smiled back. "Well just to be on the safe side." The Doctor got out his sonic.

"No! Last time I reacted to that!" Mark said not wanting to go through that again.

"Don't worry; it won't hurt you this time." The Doctor pressed the button and Mark closed his eyes preparing himself what the pain. The pain which never came. Mark opened his eyes and saw the blue light coming from the sonic. The Doctor was smiling at him. "See, told you. Nothing to worry about."

"So everything's normal now?" Mark wondered.

"Pretty much yeah."

"Thank God." Mark closed his eyes again and sighed. "I'm so tired."

"Try and get some more rest. We'll come and see how you are in a little while." The Doctor made his way put and everyone but Robbie followed him.

Robbie sat on the seat next to Mark and looked at his best friend.

"Thank you, Rob. For everything." Mark said as he turned to look at him.

"No problem Marky,"

"I mean it. Rob, without you, I probably wouldn't be here. None of us would be here." Mark said.

"I couldn't let you be used."

"I know,"

"Mark, you're my best friend, I would never let anything hurt you." Robbie said.

"And vice versa."

"I love ya, man." Robbie said.

"I love ya too, Rob." The two of them gave each other a friendly hug before Mark settled back down and fell back asleep. Rob stayed with him until he awoke again.

**TBC...**

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_**OK, so the last bit could be taken in two ways I suppose. Number one: they're just two old friends saying it to show their friendship towards each other and so in a non-gay way. Or number two: they could be saying it because they do love each other and they do want to be together. Take your pick on how you view that. Either is cool with me. I'm taking it as a mixture of the two!**_

_**Anyway, think the last chapter is probably going to be the last. So I'll see you soon with the last chapter! Please review!**_

_**OAO**_

_**~Markie! xx**_


	12. Chapter 12

Mark recovered quickly thanks to everyone being there for him. None more so than Robbie. Eventually, Mark was able to get out of bed and explore the TARDIS with Robbie, who, like Mark hadn't seen a lot of the ship.

The two of them walked down the corridor, Mark was still slightly off balance having not used his legs for months. He leant on Robbie for support as they walked. Though with each step Mark found he didn't need Robbie's support as much as he did the step before.

They came up to a door, opened it and stepped in. They found themselves in what looked like some sort of Olympic swimming pool. It was bloody huge! There was a diving board about 100 metres from the other end of the pool and it must have been at least 50 metres wide. The two of them stood on the edge of the pool and looked down. It was very deep by the looks of things. The exact depth was somewhat a mystery, but it was definitely out of both of their depths.

Robbie let go of Mark and walked behind him. Mark hadn't noticed as he continued to look down in to the water. Robbie had a cheeky look in his eye as he walked behind his friend who still hadn't noticed him walking behind him. Robbie took his chance before Mark spotted him and gently pushed Mark.

Before Mark knew what was happening he landed in the water with a big splash. When he reached the surface he starting treading water and look at Robbie who was wearing a huge grin on his face. Mark narrowed his eyes at him and before he could say anything. Robbie ran up to the edge of the pool and jumped in. He did a bomb dive causing a huge splash and the water landed everywhere. As Robbie surfaced Mark swam over to him and splashed water on his face.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"Just having a bit of fun." Robbie grinned.

"You could have warned me!" Mark said.

"Nah, where would the fun be in that?" Robbie asked. Mark gave Robbie a look before grabbing his friend's shoulders and pushing him under the water.

Under the water, Robbie managed to get Mark off of him and swap them around so Mark was the one under the water.

The two of them fought each other in the water like little kids for ages until the heard the sound of Gary's voice from outside calling their names.

"Shh."Robbie said to Mark. The two of them stayed quiet whist treading water hoping that Gary wouldn't hear them and that he would walk away.

"Rob? Mark?" Gary called again. Mark smiled and decided to take this chance as a chance to get Robbie. He grabbed Robbie by the waste and pulled him down under the water with him. Robbie just managed to take some air in before he was forced under the water again with Mark.

Robbie wriggled out of Mark's grasp and surfaced. Mark surfaced soon after and was grinning at Robbie like a little kid.

"Mark, what was that for?" Robbie tried to whisper but failed.

"Sowie." Mark said like a 4 year-old. Robbie looked at Mark sternly, but Mark couldn't take him seriously and burst out laughing. Robbie heard Gary's footsteps come closer to the door and to stop Mark from laughing he pushed him down into the water once more.

Just as he did that, Gary came into the swimming pool and saw Robbie smiling at him.

"Rob? What are you doing here?" Gary asked. "Where's Mark?"

"I dunno," Robbie said. Just as he did, Mark managed to surface. He was still in giggle mode and Gary looked at the two of them.

"What are you like? Seriously, can't you two stop causing trouble for once? Geez... you guys are nearly in your 30s and you still act like a pair of kids." Gary said with a smile.

"Where's the fun in acting your age?" Robbie asked.

"I just don't get you two. Anyway, you need to dry off and change. I think the TARDIS will sort you out with a new set of clothes. The Doctor says it's time for him to go now." Gary said. Robbie and Mark made their way out of the pool dripping wet. Gary threw them a towel each which he found and the two smiled thanks to him. They then followed Gary out of the room and down the corridor towards one of the bedrooms.

"Look in the drawers you should find something to wear. And also, make sure you have everything." Gary walked out leaving the two of them alone again. They then went over to the drawers and found something to wear. They then dried off and got changed.

When they were changed they made their way out of the TARDIS and outside where everyone else stood.

"Where have you been?" Jason asked.

"Swimming pool." They answered together. Jason and Howard rolled their eyes.

The Doctor then came out of the TARDIS and looked at the five of them before him.

"So is this it?" Howard asked.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Are you really alien?" Mark asked. "Rob told me that you said you were."

"Yeah, I really am." The Doctor smiled at the small man in front of him.

"What do you do?"

"I travel really. And every now and then I save a few planets." The Doctor said.

"Cool," Mark smiled.

"You look after yourself." Gary said.

"Will do Captain Barlow." The Doctor said with a grin, Gary couldn't help but laugh. "You guys look after yourself too and try not to get into too much trouble." The Doctor said looking particularly at Robbie and Mark and just laughed.

"We will." Howard said.

"Thank you. For everything." Mark said with a smile.

"Don't worry about it. All in a day's work – well no quite a day, bit longer than that, but you get what I mean." The Doctor said. "Anyway, see ya." The Doctor said making his way inside the TARDIS.

"See ya." Robbie said.

"Doctor! Wait," Mark ran up to the door and took out his necklace from his pocket. "Keep this. I don't need it anymore. And if you're going round saving planets and that, then you're gonna need some sort of protection." Mark told him handing the necklace over. The Doctor from Mark to the necklace and back again.

"Cheers little Marky." The Doctor smiled.

"'Ey, less of the little." Mark said with a laugh before heading back to the group. "Thanks again,"

The Doctor smiled again. "Good luck with everything that you do and I wish you the best."

"Same goes to you." Jason told him. The Doctor smiled at them one last time before heading inside the TARDIS and closing the door behind him. There was a sudden noise and a sudden gust of wind hit them blowing the leaves and dirt into their faces. But they didn't care. They stood there watching in awe and disbelief as the TARDIS faded away.

When it had finally gone, Robbie out his arm around Mark and looked down at him and smiled. Mark looked up and smiled back. The five of them then walked away from the spot the TARDIS had once been, back into their normal lives.

The last few months had been a rocky road, but they now all knew that they could face any problem if they were together. They may not be famous in this universe, but if there was one thing that they knew they would be in all universes it would be that they would always be together even if something happened and they were apart for awhile. They could never stay apart forever. It was fate; they would always find their way back to one another no matter what.

**-Fin-**

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_**And that's it! Thank you to everyone who has read this, reviewed favourite-d and followed this story. You guys are amazing! I'm so happy that this has turned out OK.**_

_**Thank you again. See you soon!**_

_**OAO**_

_**~Markie! xx**_


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